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[Daniel
Ch.11: Pre-Written History of Kings]
II.
Three Empire Builders (11:3-5)
DAN
11:3 And a mighty king shall stand up
After the death of Darius III, Alexander the Great of Macedon (356023)
rampaged eastward, reaching the Indus River. By age 32, Alexander was king
of Macedon, ruler of the Greek city-states, and conqueror of the Persian
realms.
DAN
11:4 And when he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken
At the prime of Alexander's life, in 323 after a night of feasting and
drinking, Alexander fell ill. Within eleven days, he was dead.
DAN
11:4 Divided toward the four winds of heaven and not to his posterity,
The crumbling empire was divided among four of Alexander's generals:
Ptolemy, Antigonus, Lysimachus, and Cassander. Alexander's throne had
three aspirants: (a) his posthumous son, Alexander, Jr., by Roxana; (b)
his illegitimate son Herakles by Barsina; and (c) his stupid half-brother
Philip Arrhidaeus. All three did not secure the throne.
The second settlement at Triparadeisos (321) bestowed the satrapy of
Babylon on Seleucus I "Nicator," another of Alexander's
generals. But by 316, he was
fleeing the despotic Antigonus, who had originally been awarded Babylon.
DAN
11:5 And the king of the south shall be strong
Ptolemy I "Soter"
(or "Lagi"), one of the seven elite bodyguards of Alexander, got
Egypt after the death of Alexander.
DAN
11:5 And one of his princes
The fugitive Seleucus Nicator was welcomed by Ptolemy I to Egypt.
In 312, both men defeated the son of Antigonus in the Battle of
Gaza. Seleucus immediately force-marched into Babylon and founded the
Seleucid dynasty.
DAN
11:5 He shall be strong above him
The Battle of Upsus (301) finally ruined Antogonus and awarded Coele-Syria
and Palestine to Seleucus. Seleucus I ended up stronger than Ptolemy I.
Within 30 years after founding his dynasty, Seleucus I was reigning over a
mammoth empire from the Punjab to the Hellespont.
This was virtually the whole of Alexander's empire except Egypt.
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